The insanity of leases

I'm the type of person who tends to honor deals and promises I make, usually on good faith expecting for the other I'm promising or honoring will do right by me as I aim to do right by them. In the last few years as I've switch from living in apartments with roommates, a church where my rent was renamed to make the church not liable for any big issues, and apartments by myself I've learned that leases are kind of ridiculous.

Unspoken Rules

I've followed a lot of rules from others and my own creativity to try and avoid problems. For example, I heard when moving into my current apartment that the website might collect pay late then charge you for a late fee. My solution became writing a check each month and turning it in in-person at the office. The employees there have come to know me well because of my little rule and I have never been charged a late fee. I also keep a digital or paper trail during incidents I worry might unfairly cost me money, such as the leak from my neighbor that dripped into my bathroom or the fireworks some punk neighbors set off in my parking spot, blowing off the apartment number painted beneath them. After living at a church where my faith in a board of directors and pastors was broken, I learned these kinds of rules to save myself from being wholly taken advantage of in the future. If I couldn't trust a church, how could I possibly trust realtors and land lords?

Ending a Lease

Most recently, I've felt tricked into renewing my lease. The cost of rent would go up by $20. Not too shabby. Then it now excluded costs of water and sewer, adding a nice $28 to the rent. As a poor college student, I thought this would be difficult. Then, add the health insurance and new fees for my medical bills and the fact that my summer work partially screwed me over. Long story short, in the first month of the renewed lease, my costs spiked exponentially while my pay was significantly limited.

Over the last 4 months, the apartment I renewed my lease at felt less and less safe. Someone kept graffiti-ing paranoid shit on the walls. As the months went by, the graffiti appeared more often and in more locations. The letters became more and more illegible, making me believe that children or someone with a disability was the one writing on the walls. The landlord eventually stopped covering the graffiti as it became a problem each night it was painted over.

In addition to the graffiti, I felt more and more edged out by people at my apartments. People would park in my spot or set off fireworks in my spot, leaving garbage and debris behind. Because of this, I attempted to park in my garage afterward, afraid that vandals would ruin the only thing I own worth any money. On 2 occasions, two cars parked illegally, trapping my car in my garage with no way out. Ever since, at least 1 car is parked illegally in one of the spots. I've reported them in person and on the phone multiple times. The landlords say they'll do something and the person either doesn't listen or they don't really do what they say they do.

I'm done feeling trapped. As I went to pay my rent this week, with barely enough money in my account, I've come to the conclusion that 1. I can't afford this apartment and 2. it isn't worth the new rent value as my safety and ability to drive to and from my apartment are negatively impacted. I told the workers who I visit in person around the same time each month about my situation. They tried to sell me an apartment in my partner's complex that was $70 less. They told me to edit my contract and take in a subleaser/roommate. They said to take out credit cards and loans even though it'd affect my credit. I declined each option, saying I wanted to put my apartment online with at least 2 months availability to help prepare me and the landlords well ahead of time.

They told me to post it to Facebook and refer any interested people to their phone for tours... turns out, Facebook is one of the only places I can add it as apartments.com or rent.com won't allow me to post since my landlord registered the address under their name. I didn't expect for me to beg them to share it on those sites. I created a thorough post with pictures and a diagram of the apartment. I did all the hard work for them.

I'm learning another difficult lesson here: leases are bullshit. Literally the big difference is putting information online, scheduling tours, and doing deposits, cleaning, and move out procedures earlier than originally expected. They make me seem difficult for wanting out of a rip off, make me feel like a monster if I'm too stubborn or mean for not accepting bullshit. Why is it so hard for someone to nicely end a lease early, especially when I'm giving more than 2 months notice?

Overall, paying for a lease and the process of finding new living situations when you're a poor graduate student is something that makes me feel very negatively towards capitalism and the housing market and where I work. My good faith has continually been broken pretty much by everybody except a couple of great roommates I've had (shout out to Andrew, Anna, Alex, Anthony, Amour, Isy, Dan, and Dawson). As I continue in my journey to find a better place to live where I won't have to beg for a loan to stay alive with, I try not to become bitter with how much deceit and inhumane practices I see. I know realtors and landlords are just doing their jobs. Still, something here should change. Shame on those in power to change things when they ignore the problem. Shame on them for making an early lease break the feel like only truly viable option.

#IDisappointMyDad #IDMD #post25 #09022024 #TheInsanityOfLeases #endingmylease #rent #renters #Goldmark